Tonight, the “Ohrid Summer” festival will celebrate its 64th anniversary with a concert by the salsa orchestra “Mercadonegro.” At today’s press conference for the anniversary concert, the director of this national institution, Natasha Popovic, emphasized that “Ohrid Summer” is a unique Macedonian platform where artistic creations from around the world intersect. She recalled that every year, the festival stage unites different cultures, leaving an indelible mark for future generations.
“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those who have elevated the festival with their performances: famous musicians and actors, renowned opera and theater houses, numerous art lovers, and all those who have tirelessly worked and built the successful story of ‘Ohrid Summer.’ ‘Ohrid Summer’ is a top cultural scene, a place where music and theater complement the rich tradition. This year’s festival program, the 64th ‘Ohrid Summer,’ continues to inspire art lovers, proving that we are committed to building and enriching the magic that emanates from this stage. Today, we celebrate years filled with rich history, with famous names from the world’s musical and theatrical elite,” said Director Popovic, expressing gratitude to everyone who has been part of the successful story called “Ohrid Summer.”
Bisera Chadlovska, the selector of the music program of the “Ohrid Summer” festival, said that this year’s edition will be one of the most successful, especially with the performances of renowned foreign and domestic artists.
“So far, we have had 20 days filled with wonderful concerts, a lot of music, applause, and ovations for our artists who participated in the festival. In addition to the numerous foreign artists who brought great quality to our stages, I also want to thank our domestic artists who performed alongside the foreign ones. Until the end of the festival, we expect international evenings and evenings with local performers, which will complete another successful festival edition,” said Chadlovska.
According to Sanja Arsovska, the selector of the festival’s drama program, two-thirds of the drama program had been realized by the festival’s anniversary date.
“We had three theater premieres at this festival edition. Two-thirds of the theater program has been completed, including ‘Immaculate’ directed by Livija Pandur and produced by SNG Drama Maribor, ‘The Seagull’ by the Bitola National Theater, ‘King Lear’ by the Lit Moon Theatre Company from Santa Barbara directed by John Blondell, and recently, the extraordinary premiere of the play ‘Racin’ directed by Dejan Projkovski and produced by the Veles Theater. We also had Nikola Djuricko with his stand-up, which has an incredible connection to the theater, representing a monograph of his theatrical experiences at the Yugoslav Drama Theater,” said Arsovska, announcing that two more theatrical performances remain until the end of this festival edition: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with the Drama Theater Belgrade and “Alice in Wonderland” with the Yugoslav Drama Theater from Belgrade, which will close the festival on August 20.
The salsa orchestra “Mercadonegro” was formed by Armando Miranda, with members coming from different parts of Latin America, each bringing their own traditional specifics.
“As the band leader, I am happy to be in Macedonia for the first time and to perform for the first time at ‘Ohrid Summer.’ We are very excited about our performance, which we prepared especially for the festival audience. We will take a musical journey through Latin America. We want the entire audience to be part of our musical journey and to show them our musical roots,” Miranda said at today’s press conference.
The anniversary concert of “Ohrid Summer” with the salsa orchestra “Mercadonegro” will be held at Dolni Saraj, starting at 9 PM.
